798 
prove the amount of the taxes to be deu- 
bled during the prefent adminiftration ; 
and confequently the wealth of the people 
who pay them, to have increafed in the 
' fame proportion.—To thofe who are con- 
vinced by fuch reafoning I have no argu- 
ments to oppofe ; but that the more intel- 
ligent reader may fee that the premifes 
and conclufions are much of the fame kind, 
J thall beg leave to offer a few obferva- 
tions on fome of thofe documents which 
minifters have fubmmntted to the public. 
In a printed paper, ftated to contain 
fundry refolutions which were lately paffed 
in a certain affembly, it is afferted thar on 
the sth of January 1786, the public debts, 
exclufive of the annuities for terms and for 
\ 
lives, amounted to £.233,231,248—that ° 
the amount of the public funded debt, 
created fince the 1ft of February 1793, 
exclufive of annuities for terms, and of 
the Imperial Annuities, amounted to 
-225,602,792, making together £.463, 
$34,040—that frem this fum, the Irifh 
loans of £.12,175,000, the ftock pur- 
chafed by the commiffioners, for redeem- 
ing the public debt, amounting to £.37, 
381,771, and £.35,250,000, provided for 
by the Income Tax, (amounting in the 
whole to £.84,806,773) are to be deduét- 
ed, and that the remainder, or £.336, 
go2z,000, will be the whole funded debt, 
exclufive of the Annuities, on the rf of 
February laft.—Now, this is wrong even 
according to the ftatements given in thefe 
very refclutions ; for if there be any truth 
in arithmetic, the fum of £.84,806,771, 
fubtraéted from £.46 3,834,040, leaves only 
a remainder of £.379,027,269; which is 
very nearly ezght millions lefs than the fum 
here given.—But why are the Annuities 
for terms not included in the above a- 
mount ? Moft of them have a much jonger 
duration than is affigned in thefe refolu- 
tions for the redemption of the whole 
debt ; and therefore the word permanent is 
full as well applied to them as to any other 
of the annuities. —For the fame reafon the 
tum {aid tobe provided for by the Income 
Tax, is as much a debt as any other part 
until it be redeemed ;——nay, if thefe are to 
be excluded, it may with the fame pro- 
priety be afferted, that there is no national 
debt at all; for the whole of it is faid to 
be in a ftate of redemption, which will be 
completed in the year 1846.” 
In comparing this inaccurate acccunt 
with another which was laid before the 
Houfe of Commons, on the roth of April 
1709, the real amount of the funded na- 
tional debt on the 1ft of July, appears to 
have been as follows : 
Remarks on the Public Finances. 
§ per cents. £.43,250)427 
4. per cenis, 45,269,360 
3 per cents. 358,333,753 | 
- — £-451,659,040 
Exchequer Annuities expiring é 
in 1305, 6 &-7. (£80,223) 


worth at 5 percent. — 430,290 
-Life-Annuities (£.76,032) 
taken at 8 years purchafe - 608,256 
Short Annuities (£.422,822) 
expiring in 1808, worth 3»202,036- 
' Long Annuities(£.1028,358) 
expiring in 1860, worth 
Imperial Loans, _ 
confiftings of 
Stock in the = 
3 percents. 7,502,633 
Annuities for 21 
years (£.232, 
587- £05.) 
Worth — 
- 19,548,150 
~ 
259773126 

—— 10547957 59 

485,727,535 
Deduct the Stock redeemed ~ 37,381,772 
eee Pee 
Whole Funded Debt,which£.448, 345,760 
exceeds the amount deli-———————— 
vered in thefe refolutions 
by £.69,318,491. 
In the sth and 6th Refolutions the an- 
nual charges on the permanent debt in- _ 
curred before the sth of January 1793, 
and on the permanent debt incurred fince 
that period, are refpectively ftated to be 
£.10,325,000 and £.8,246,215, making 
together the fum of £.18,571,215.—But 
in the 15th Refolution, the amount of the 
fame charges is made to be £.18,762,0243 
and in the paper delivered to the Houfe of 
Commons in April Jaft, it is raifed even to 
£19,054.301-——In like manner, the amount 
of the unfunded debt onthe §th of January 
1799, according to the 8th of thefe refo- 
lutions appears to be £.14,137,686; but 
in the paper juft mentioned it is fwelled 
on the’ very fame day to £.15,295,674.— 
If the comparifon be extended to other 
parts of thefe documents, they all appear 
to be equally at variance with each other, 
and lead us by their inaccuracy to form 
no very favourable opinion either of the 
order or the ceconomy which ought to 
prevail in the public expenditure. —But 
our furprife is not more ftrongly excited by 
thefé glaring errors in the accounts, than 
by the extravagant fuppofitions on which 
moft of thofe accounts have been com- 
puted. In the 24th Refolution it is ob- 
feryed 
i [November, : 
a 
= 
* 
. 
